love letters
by yadorigi
Summary: No one is ever who they seem to be on the surface. It takes a long time for both of them to realize this. —Kise/OC
1. Chapter 1

There is a new student in his class, though she's not really a new student. She was supposed to be here a month ago, but never showed up. She obviously carried some foreign blood.

Even more unusual, the teacher was introducing her and she was not talking at all.

"I'll be introducing Tsubaki Amalie," the middle-aged man said, adjusting his glasses. Her name only confirms her foreign blood. "She's from Shibuya. Tsubaki-san has been enrolled in Teiko since the beginning of the year, but got into an accident two months. Because of that accident, her vocal chords have been damaged. She might recover her voice eventually, but she'll be communicating through her notebook until then. Treat her kindly."

She's a pretty one, with her honey hair spilling to her elbows and her rose-colored eyes; her skin is ivory, oddly pale… as if she has not been outside for a while, Kise mused. Considering the fact that she'd been in an accident, Tsubaki probably _hasn't _been outside for a while.

A coral summer scarf is wrapped tightly around her neck.

The rest of the class (save Murasakibara, who is only eating like usual) is intrigued by her, talking excitedly as she writes in her notebook. _It's nice to meet you_, it says.

Kise gives her a supportive smile, like the rest of his classmates. Tsubaki smiles, too, as the others begin to ask her several questions that will take an eternity to write an answer to.

* * *

Several girls had started coming to practice just to watch him when he joined the basketball team; surprisingly, Tsubaki is one of them today. Her new friends probably dragged her along with them. She's only writing on a piece of stationary with a pen; the blonde-haired girl is completely absorbed in whatever it was that she's doing. When the girl is done, the letter is tucked into a white envelope. _Tsubakicchi is probably writing a love letter,_ Kise thought to himself as his teammate handed him an energy drink. It's surprisingly because no one, male or female, would write a love letter surrounded by so many other people.

Everyone starts to notice the love letters. To whom the letters were addressed to is still unknown.

She sits right next to the door, two seats in front of him. During lunch, the girl sits at her desk and plays on her phone or with her video games, or writes another love letter. Only Mikazuki Sera, a girl with stark white hair and gold eyes, is constantly with her. She is sharp-tongued, blunt, but well-meaning.

He's never had a chance to talk to Tsubaki, but he wants to.

* * *

Mikazuki Sera is rarely ever seen without Tsubaki. The boy has noticed that, while the girl does have a sort of companionship with her other friends, she has a special and distinct camaraderie with this girl. They play video games together. She never seems bothered by the fact that her friend cannot speak. She doesn't bother her constantly about the alleged love letters. Or maybe Mikazuki already knows.

* * *

One day, he finally talks to her without the entire class around them. Mikazuki is out sick today.

"Hi, Tsubakiichi!" Kise greets cheerfully. She raises an eyebrow at this nickname—it's probably the first time she's heard him directly refer to her by that nickname. If it bothers her, Tsubaki doesn't show it.

The girl flips to the front of her notebook to a page that reads _Hello_.

He doesn't know what else to say so he says, "How's the day been for you?"

Tsubaki flips three pages ahead to a page that reads _It's been good_.

"Are you bored with all these stupid questions?"

She flips one page back. _No_. Then three pages ahead—_I don't mind_.

"Are just those stock replies?" the golden-haired boy asks curiously.

She laughs soundlessly, though she starts coughing and reaches inside her bag for a water bottle. Kise wishes her vocal cords were not damaged so he could hear her laughter.

Tsubaki flips four pages back after putting her water bottle away. _Yes_.

"How many do you have?"

She tucks her notebook under her arm and holds up seven fingers for a couple seconds.

"So…" He racks his brain for something else to ask her before something goes off in his head. Kise knows better than to ask her—and maybe it's too personal a question—but he can't help it. "Just whom are you sending those love letters—"

She simply goes to the _No_ page.

She smiles sardonically, shakes her head, and flips to a blank page in her notebook. _They are not love letters_, she writes.

Kise doesn't believe that. "Then what are they?"

Tsubaki points to the page again.

"But, Tsubakiichi—!" Kise whines. The girl inaudibly laughs again and shoves the page in his face. _No_.

Tsubaki flips to the seventh page of the notebook—the final stock reply. She has a cryptic smile on her face and pats her signature coral scarf.

_It's a secret_.

* * *

Kise decides that Tsubaki Amalie is a very interesting girl.

The afternoon after that conversation, he and Tsubaki had had an argument about which mineral water brands tasted better. Which was a first, considering that the boy was one of few with this strange hobby. The rest of the class—save the purple-haired giant—looks on in unrestrained amusement.

* * *

She's at basketball practice a month later, writing another infamous love letter atop a notebook, a messenger bag in her lap. One of the second strings hadn't been paying attention well enough; a stray basketball hit her in the head. Her messenger back, notebook, and letter all fall out of her lap. Several of the other players stop and run to her; her friends yell things like, "Are you okay?!" to Tsubaki or "You should have been paying attention!" to the second string player, who kept apologizing.

Everyone thinks that Tsubaki is sobbing soundlessly at first, but when she lifts her head, they realize that the mute girl is _laughing_. Kise sees genuine amusement in her eyes, much unlike the time when she introduced herself.

It takes a while, and it's more than a little bit awkward, but everyone stops panicking over her and starts laughing. And then starts choking again; Mikazuki hands her a bottle of water from her messenger bag.

The boy again thinks _I would have liked to hear her laughter_.

By the time everyone has gotten back to what they had been doing, Kise is the only one to notice the letter gone astray. For the rest of practice, no one notices it; the letter had slid under the bleachers.

Mikazuki is talking to Tsubaki about a new video game. The girl's completely distracted.

After practice was over, he goes under the bleachers to retrieve it. Kise stares at the envelope and contemplates reading it. The boy knows fill well it would be an invasion of her privacy—it just wouldn't be right—but finds it hard to resist the urge.

Someone tugs on his sleeve then, and Kise jumps. He turns around to see Tsubaki staring up at him with her rose eyes. She is much smaller than him. He hadn't noticed this before.

Tsubaki writes in her notebook _It isn't right to snoop _while plucking the letter put of his hands.

He smiles sheepishly. "I know, Tsubakicchi, I know! I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it!"

She breathes in deeply and inaudibly; it probably was a sigh. Or maybe she just has trouble breathing. Both are equally likely.

"Why don't I make it up to you by—"

Tsubaki flips to the sixth page of her notebook. _I don't mind_.

The girl goes to the back of the notebook and writes _They aren't love letters anyway _and starts walking towards the gym doors.

He blinks and then shouts, "Then what are they?! Tsubakicchi, it's rude to walk away in the middle of a conversation, you know!"

His classmate turns around and just shakes her head with a grin on her face.

* * *

Two days from summer vacation, Tsubaki gets up from her seat the middle of lunch. in her notebook she writes Who wants to read one of the letters?

The immediate answer is a _Yes_ so loud that some students from the classroom next door, including Aomine, look over to see what's going on.

She tosses a letter—this time in a gray envelope—to Mikazuki, who tells everyone that she'll be reading it.

Kise is sure that she's just gotten tired of everyone asking her.

"Ugh, finally... I've been waiting all morning. Dear Mom, please remember to buy me that Alter figure, and I want some accesories from Shibuya and… Tsubaki-chan, what the hell! This is just a letter to your mom!" Mikazuki exclaims. "Is this fake?!"

The girl hands her another letter from her bag.

"Dear Mom, please hurry up and come home…" Mikazuki mutters. "Wait, so they weren't love letters after all!"

Tsubaki shrugs and picks up her notebook. She writes _I told you so. I never claimed they were love letters._

Everyone, including Kise, is sorely disappointed.

* * *

She comes to practice after school that day. Once it's over and everyone leaves, she hands him a letter in a beige envelope.

He furrows his eyebrows in confusion as she skips away.

Kise opens it later that night after dinner.

It's a love letter, he realizes after reading the first line, which said _I like you_.

* * *

Ah, does Amalie seem like a sue…? Perhaps that's because I haven't fleshed her out yet. I do plan on writing a multichapter fic of this, only it'll be far angstier. I'm sure you've noticed how I didn't touch on the accident that cost Amalie her voice. Oh, and she was lying about the letters to her classmates.

I had so much fun writing this, but I'm sorry if Kise is OOC. I've only just started reading the manga.

Also, Amalie has vocal cord paralysis; only one of her vocal cords are damaged, so she actually _can_ speak. However, no one will be able to hear her unless they have amazing hearing and it's pretty hard for her. It's also permanent.


	2. Chapter 2

From here on out, it'll be from Amalie's POV.

* * *

The letter Tsubaki Amalie gives to Kise later the day is not a love letter per se; it was more of a 'thank you' letter to him. She thanked him, told him that she'd like to be his friend. To make it even more misleading, the girl sprayed perfume on it.

Tsubaki honestly can't wait to see his reaction the next day, after he's read the 'love letter'.

Her aunt observes that her niece is in a better mood when she comes home, and i an even better mood when her sign language tutor comes over.

* * *

July 19th is finally here, Tsubaki muses, the last day of school before summer holiday begins. The basketball team has a national championship this summer. If she remembers it correctly, the championship is sometime near the end of August.

She's interested in the basketball team now, but mostly because Mikazuki always talks about it. And because the basketball team is filled to the brim with all sorts of interesting people.

Kise comes to her desk during lunch. "You actually had me thinking it was a love letter, I mean who begins any other letter with '_I like you_'?! I didn't even realize it _wasn't_ a love letter until I finished it!" the boy gripes.

The blonde-haired girl laughs; it hurts and it's weird not actually hearing her own laugh, but as with all the other times, she can't hold back her laughter. The rest of the class stares, mouths agape. Mikazuki presses her lips together to prevent a smile for forming but finds herself failing.

She writes,_ Are you disappointed? _The girl is about to show it to him before she decides to add a heart just to tease him. _I'm surprised_.

"YOU," Kise begins overdramatically in a rather loud voice. "YOU WERE SURPRISED?! WHAT ABOUT ME?!" He takes a deep sigh and plops himself down in the empty seat in front of her, a begrudging smile on her face. "You really _never_ stop surprising me, Tsubakicchi!"

_And you're very predictable_, Tsubaki writes. _You're also disturbing everyone's meal._

"Isn't that a little mean, Tsubaki-chan?" Mikazuki says in a saccharine tone as she plays with her friend's summer scarf. "Don't want to hurt his feelings now, do we?"

_Now you're being mean_, Tsubaki writes, trying not to giggle. This type of behavior from her white-haired friend is rare.

"Both of you are mean!" Kise says in a childish way.

She laughs soundlessly while unscrewing a water bottle. It's barely to her mouth before Kise exclaims, "Why are you drinking Nerea?! We established that Crystal Geyser was the best!"

_For making baby food_, Tsubaki replies quickly. Her aunt uses Crystal Geyser to make baby food for her younger sister. _Nerea definitely wins when it comes to taste._

_"Tsubaki-chan!" _Mikazuki exclaims. "I thought you liked Evian!"

_Evian tastes like lies, it gets stale after half an hour when it's so goddamn expensive!_

"She's right about that," Kise says brightly, leaning over her desk to see the notebook. "But Tsubakicchi's wrong about Crystal Geyser."

She smacks him on the shoulder with her notebook.

"What's going on?" a student asks as they enter the classroom.

"They're arguing about mineral water again."

"Again?"

"_Again_."

* * *

Tsubaki feels in high spirits as she runs down the hallway back to her classroom, from the restroom. Mineral water arguments were fun. However, the end of the school day—and summer holiday—cannot come quick enough. The girl's running because lunch ends in a few minutes. She feels rather short of breath. (Tsubaki resents this. Before the accident, her stamina never ran out so quickly.)

She's just outside of the classroom when she runs into a boy much taller than her. The girl falls backwards. It hurts, and her sides sting a little as she begins to collect herself, but it was nothing serious.

The boy is holding his hands out to her; Tsubaki takes his hands and pulls herself up, and then brushes off her skirt. He's a green-haired boy with glasses. It takes a few seconds before her brain registers him as Midorima Shintaro, one of the famous members of the basketball team. He's from the class next door, class 2-A—the same class as Aomine Daiki. The one with all the weird lucky items. One day, he brought an _exercise ball_ to school. (Someone had taken a picture of the boy trying to get the exercise ball through the door and uploaded it online.$ Today he's carrying a salt shaker.

"Are you alright?" When she nods, he adds," You should be paying attention to where you're going." It's more of an afterthought and it's obvious that Midorima doesn't intend to be mean or anything, despite his somewhat harsh tone of voice.

_Shit, why didn't I bring it?!_ Tsubaki thinks to herself, wide-eyed. Her notebook is still in the classroom. Midorima waits expectantly for a reply.

"S-Sorry," she manages to say, but it hurts so much and it's so quiet that Midorima probably hears nothing at all. Would it be rude to go back into the classroom to get the notebook, Tsubaki wonders. Her desk is right next to the door.

Midorima raises an eyebrow. As she thought, he heard nothing. "What?"

A few more seconds pass in awkward silence before the door to her classroom opens. Kise's head is peeking out. A few other students were behind him. "Hey, I heard a thud—oh! Hey Midorimacchi! I didn't know that you knew Tsubakicchi."

"I didn't," Midorima replies flatly. "Tsubaki's her name, then?"

"Yeah." Kise steps out of the classroom and closes the door behind him. "What was that thud earlier?"

"She ran into me."

"Oh, really? I guess she's sort of accident-prone, what with that basketball the other day and now this… Well, Midorimacchi, this is Tsubaki Amalie. Tsubakicchi, this is Midorima Shintaro. Hey, Tsubakicchi? Where's your notebook?"

She wants to say _In the classroom, obviously. _But she's still glad that Kise is here. Perhaps he could clear things up between her and the green-haired boy.

"Notebook?" the bespectacled youth inquires.

"Tsubakicchi is mute, so she writes what she wants to say in a notebook," Kise chirped. "I guess she left it in the classroom or something."

"Oh." Midorima gazed at her, understanding dawning in his eyes. "And that's why you didn't say anything earlier?"

Tsubaki nods fervently; she feels somewhat intimidated in the presence of not one but two very tall boys when she's so small and feels thankful that the purple-haired giant Murasakibara was still inside the classroom.

Tsubaki glances at Kise's wristwatch. It reads _12:30_—lunch js already over.

Midorima probably doesn't know sign language, but Tsubaki thinks it wouldn't hurt to try. (Even though she isn't that good at sign language yet.) _Sorry_, she signs. He looks confused by the motion, but the girl thinks that he probably understands why she did it.

Thankfully, Kise says, "Is that sign language for 'I'm sorry' or whatever?" She gives him a thumbs-up. "You're learning sign language, Tsubakicchi?" He turns to Midorima and grins. "See you at practice later."

Midorima only curtly nods in response as they all return to their respective classrooms; the teachers are starting to head to their next period's classroom.

* * *

It's near the end of the day. Tsubaki sighs contentedly as she pulls out a piece of stationery from a folder.

"Writing another letter to your mom?" Mikazuki asks.

She flips to the second page of her notebook. _Yes._

"Are you free after school today?"

Her hands automatically move to flip to the next and third page, because whenever Mikazuki doesn't ask "Do you want to come over today?" she usually wants to come over to the Tsubaki household. _No._

"That sucks, you're always busy! What do you do after school?"

Seventh page. _It's a secret._

Mikazuki scoffs.

_Alright_, Tsubaki writes. _Doctor appointments._

"Do you want to come over, then, Tsubaki-chan? It's the first day of summer holiday and all…"

_Yes. _Tsubaki nearly breathes in a sigh of relief.

* * *

School ends only half an hour after that conversation. Kise asks her, "I've been wondering. Since you send letters to your mother and all," he asks, curiosity plain in his eyes, "where is your mother?" Her classmates look up from their desks. They, too, are interested.

The corner of her mouth twitches. Maybe it's a smile, maybe it's a frown. Who could tell?

She goes to the seventh page again. It wasn't something that they had to know about.

_It's a secret._

* * *

Are you guys disappointed that it wasn't an actual love letter?

Anyway, from here on out, it'll (almost) always be Amalie's POV. The story began on June 2nd, btw. July 18th is when Kise receives the 'love letter'. This also takes place during their second year of Teiko! I'm sorry for not clarifying. Also, a thank you to tumblr user yefione for their Teikou timeline. It's a great reference.

Nerea and Crystal Geyser are both popular imported brands of mineral water in Japan. I've never drank either brand myself, so I did a little research for that bit earlier~ I learned that many Japanese people nowadays no longer use bottled mineral water just for drinking, but for cooking and making coffee as a result of the large sizes! Isn't that an interesting fact? Evian's also rising in popularity. (Did I just spend an entire paragraph talking about mineral water? Oh my god.)

Amalie's exact family situation will be revealed later.

Midorima was probably... OOC... I didn't want to write him all tsun like everyone treats him to be because I don't believe that it encompasses his entire character, so...

Thank you all so much for your kind reviews, and please continue to support me! I will try not to disappoint.


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